Hardmeyer - City Magazine

| KILEE'S TAKE
Maiden Name
vs. Changing Name
When I was a little girl, I loved to play dress up. I
would walk down the aisle in my mother’s wedding
dress, say “I do” to Prince Charming and become
Mrs. Charming.
Fast forward to today. October 2, 2009, is the big day when
I make my real-life trip down the long aisle. After I say, “I do,”
I will no longer be Miss Dobogai.
As a little girl, it was always easy to take Prince Charming’s
last name. However, now that I am on the precipice of this
major decision, I started thinking about the debate of keeping
your maiden name vs. changing it. Has changing a maiden
name after marriage gotten more or less popular?
During my search for the answer, I found some interesting
information. I learned about Lucy Stone, who in the 1850s,
decided to keep her maiden name when she married. During
the women’s movement in 1921, the Lucy Stone League was
founded, and women who kept their maiden names were
known as “Lucy Stoners.” Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, more
women kept their name.
In the ‘90s, keeping the maiden name declined. According
to the Journal of Economic Perspectives, based on Mass. birth
records, 21 percent of college graduate women kept their
maiden name in 1990 versus 13 percent in 2000.
So what will I do? I’ve thought
long and hard and decided that,
no matter how independent I am
or how much of a superwoman I
want to be, I’m a traditionalist at
heart.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s sad
saying goodbye to the Dobogai
name. I’ve been a Dobogai for 25
years. Not to mention, it’s such a
cool name! But, in the end, my
future life is with a different name.
I’ll always be a Dobogai at
heart, but a Harmon in love and
in life. That is why it is called the
next chapter, right?
4 thecitymag.com